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A/N:
To: speedgriffon, I cannot draw, and I wanted to thank you for being you. A kindred spirit in the Regency brain rot, I could not convey how much your comments meant to me in these odd months. And so, I thank you and hope you enjoy my use of Sebastian and Sloane for this fic.
Summary: In which Sebastian Sallow has quite an uphill battle winning over the one he loves (and her father).
CW: Papa Sloane -> ...and smut.
"It is a truth universally acknowledged that a single man in possession of a good fortune must be in want of a wife."
Jane Austen "Pride and Prejudice", 1813
"Dare not say a man forgets sooner than woman, that his love has an earlier death."
Jane Austen, "Persuasion", 1817
~~~***~~~
There were a few reasons why Sebastian Sallow thought his past would come to haunt him. Certainly, one issue was the debacle that was his Uncle Solomon. They had not been on good terms during Sebastian's formative years, often leaving their correspondences, greetings, and well wishes with his twin sister, Anne. So, it was with great surprise that he received an owl, followed by a visit from a Ministry official announcing his inheritance not only to his uncle's fortune but his title as well.
Viscount Sebastian Sallow.
What a load of dung.
"You realize you'll need to be more respectable amongst company, yes?" Ominis asked as Sebastian grimly noted the smirk suppressing his laughter.
"I should say I'm already in respectable company, but if it means lowering the great Ominis Gaunt to the position of a peasant, then I am open to better suggestions."
"My company is neither disreputable nor respectable, Sallow. It's a blessing—one you will do well to remember," Ominis snorted, "Especially if you're to enter into the market."
"He's always been on the market," Anne sighed, her footsteps echoing in the large corridor of their newly acquired estate, "Nobody just wants him."
"Not true," Sebastian said, "I have many prospects. I am ... biding my time."
"Prospects? Ha!" Anne laughed.
"And if they're not jilted lovers, they're whores," Ominis chuckled.
"That girl was not a whore!" he said hotly, "She was... a fine instructor!"
"Right..." Anne and Ominis said in unison before dissolving into a fit of laughter.
Huffing, Sebastian turned to walk away, the heat blooming on his cheeks. Despite the many attentions he sought after from women of the night, there was very little he gained from them. They answered to his every need and listened, and yet... the false platitudes and lack of connection grated at his heart.
